Strength begets strength: ADCC world championships camp. The squad is working hard on new skills. The slog of training is always at its toughest about half way through. Days just seem to blend into each other and the aches and pains mount rapidly. Much of what gets the athletes through is the camaraderie among them. Shared suffering is easier to bear than lonely suffering – but most important of all is a sense of purpose. Purposeless suffering will break in a man in a matter of hours- but if a man has a purpose that he holds dear, he can endure any conditions indefinitely. Keeping the athletes eyes open to their end goal is critical in these hard weeks where the body and mind are put to trial. Here, Gordon Ryan goes through another tough workout with teenage sensation and world champion, Rayron Gracie, son of Ryan Gracie. Both have a tremendous future the extent of which, like all of us, will be determined by their ability to cope with the pressures of training and preparation by remaining focused as much on where they want to be in the future as where they are now.
